BurningbirdRecovered from the Wayback Machine.
If you’re concerned that Ashcroft and the White House are going too far in their hunt for terrorists, email Senators Leahy and Kennedy, as well as your own state senators. You can find senator email addresses at http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.cfm. Even if you don’t agree with me, email anyway — let your voice be heard.
This is likely the earliest weblog entry I’ll be able to recover from the Wayback Machine. My earlier Manila weblog site entries were overwritten by an overzealous web bot that Userland was running. This includes postings that happened right after 9/11/. And before that, I created each individual writing using static HTML.
I’ve found that weblogging is particularly useful when you want to say something quickly. What can I say? I just can’t stay away!
Speaking about saying something, Dave Winer writes about his concerns regarding Ashcroft’s recent actions. I’m writing to say that I concur with Dave, completely and totally on this issue.
The scariest thing I’ve heard from a member of the ruling politic is the following, from Ashcroft:
I supported President Bush and his campaign in Afghanistan. I still do. And the more I hear about the Taliban the more I think we should have gotten involved with the situation a long time ago. However, I draw the line at secret military tribunals, holding people for months without any legal representation, profile-based questioning without merit or just cause, and most particularly, telling the people of this country that criticising the white house is aiding terrorism.
Liberty. Freedom. Justice for all. What the hell are we fighting for if these are nothing more than token words: red, white, and blue-speak. These are rights we have to fight for daily; to preserve not only from the enemy without, but also from the enemy within.
Previous weblog entries can be seen here.
Drugs – Sugar Bowl Park, where rich family members came out to play Frisbee and the rest us came out to pop a little speed. Don’t let those Just Say No ads fool you folks; the only time we acknowledged that this country had a drug problem is when all those rich kids started getting high. Before that it was all Sugar Bowl.
Trip over the mountain – met these two little old ladies in a white van going across the pass from Reno to Sacramento. One lady was the mother of the other which seemed al-most un-believable to such young eyes when I realize how OLD the daughter was. And the mother had a wooden leg. Now, if you are going to cross a mountain pass in a snow blizzard this has got to be a one of kind way of doing it.
Berkley — There it was, the Mecca for all the flower children all over the world. All of us lined up for probably about 5 miles with cardboard signs saying “Seattle” or “New York” or “London”. Now, I can give you Seattle and New York, but London? Did these people really think that someone would be on their way to London on an expressway outside Berkley? It was a gimmick. We were learning even then. No wonder we grew up to what we are today.
Ketchup – a favorite way of attracting attention at demonstrations was to wait until a camera was near, try and get some poor fool of a cop to come near you, and splat – hit yourself in the head with a little bag of ketchup that you keep in the palm of your hand.
Pad – Cheap living room in a cheap apartment in a dirt cheap city with beads on the door and a mattress of the floor. Boones Farm wine in the fridge, and a water pipe on the table. Nothing more than a place on the way to somewhere.
Commune – Group love, group dishes, group dinner, group getting stoned, group love, group showers, group trips, group hugs, group work. Oh, and group love.
Sunrise – Through a halo with dancing colors and walking with Blue and friends to a cheap diner that stays open all night.
Rock – Far out man, groove to the tunes. Let it all hang out. Dance to the music, baby. Dance.